Oliver Ames grads receive letters they wrote in sixth grade

Friday

Along with their diplomas, 23 Oliver Ames High School graduates of 2010 received something at the end of their high school career they had been waiting six years for.

Along with their diplomas, 23 Oliver Ames High School graduates of 2010 received something at the end of their high school career they had been waiting six years for.

Middle School teacher Frank Rich fulfilled a promise he made to those students in 2004. He mailed them letters they had written to themselves when they were 12-year-olds in his classroom describing their hopes and dreams for the future from a sixth grader’s point of view.

While some students had asked Rich to read their letters before they were seniors Rich made them wait to reminisce about life when they did not have to worry about what college they would get into or how their SAT scores measured up.

Hannah Paul remembers the day she sat in Rich’s class trying to come up with something to write about that would not make her seem uncool years later.

“Reading the letter now I don’t really think I was an uncool kid,” Paul said. “I was just as uncool then as I am now.”

She said her letter told her she was obsessed with the TLC show “Trading Spaces” and she wanted to be an interior designer or talk show host. She had planned to attend Quincy College, the same college both her parents had attended.

“I’m not really interested in interior design or being a talk show host at all any more,” Paul said. “I’ll be attending Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashvill, TN in the fall and plan on double majoring in English and film. Six years ago I dreamed of being in front of the camera, now I hope to find work behind it.”

Tim Puopolo said he almost forgot about writing his letter but when he saw it in the mail he immediately remembered his sixth grade assignment.

“I addressed it to Future Tim,” Puopolo said. “I enjoyed it.”

He said he laughed at himself a bit when he read of his sixth grade dreams of going to college to become a park ranger. Puopolo said he plans on attending UMass-Amherst in the fall in the pre-dental program.

Rich said only four students had moved out of the district since 2004 and he was able to track three down. Just one letter was not deliverable because he could not find any information on the student.

While he was a student at Boston College Rich said he heard a professor talking about his son doing a similar assignment.

“I thought it sounded like an amazing idea,” Rich said.

Since he started teaching at the middle school in 2003 Rich has amassed a file cabinet full of letters his students have written. Even if he leaves the teaching profession or the town, Rich has promised to take the letters with him and mail them at the appropriate time.

“It’s really just a little look back at life. Life isn’t always what you expect,” Rich said.

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